


The Senior Prom

by akasharpiegirl



Series: Prom [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Adorable Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Bisexual Female Character, Disney References, F/F, F/M, Genius Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Religious Trauma, Lesbian Character, Love Confessions, Morgan Stark Needs a Hug (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Morgan Stark-centric (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Parent Pepper Potts, Parent Tony Stark, Pepper Potts Needs a Hug, Prom, Protective Pepper Potts, Protective Tony Stark, Teen Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Is Not Helping, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark is Good With Kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 02:34:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29394879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akasharpiegirl/pseuds/akasharpiegirl
Summary: In which eighteen-year-old Morgan Stark is in her senior year of high school and has a crush on her childhood best friend... but is too terrified to tell her.
Relationships: Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe) & Original Female Character(s), Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe) & Tony Stark, Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe)/Original Female Character(s), Pepper Potts & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Pepper Potts & Original Female Character(s), Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Original Female Character(s)
Series: Prom [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2159295
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	1. The Promposal

**Author's Note:**

> anyways hi, this is probably not a desired fic but I got weirdly inspired to write a fic like this maybe three weeks ago and now it’s done? I don’t even know how it happened, it just did. I haven’t had a steady flow of inspiration in a long while due to a lot of personal stuff shaking up my life in its current state, so this was shocking. And unfortunately, it’s 8k words. So it’ll be a chapter fic again. 
> 
> Also, I’m bi. You probably knew that if you followed my Twitter or tumblr. But thought I was ready to say it here too. :)
> 
> Rated teen for minor cases of swearing, mention/“showing” of food, and referencing to religious trauma and homophobia. Please be safe! 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed reading.

It’s mid-March and Morgan’s knee-deep in her art project when someone taps on her shoulder. She pulls out one earbud with her left hand and turns her head over her shoulder to search for the source, her thin paintbrush held still in her right hand. She had been painting a piece that was supposed to be reminiscent of her home and growing up. 

Her best friend ~~(and her crush)~~ was standing behind her and seemingly holding a plethora of items behind her back. Morgan could tell there was a gift bag and some sort of piece of paper. She turns toward her workspace for a second, setting down the brush on the easel tray and pulling her second earbud out. She sets the earphones in their case on the ground next to Morgan’s backpack. She turns back around to face Sophia. 

Morgan didn’t realize a smile had creeped on her face at the sight. Sophia’s blonde hair was pulled into a high ballet bun and her almost-too-long bangs were pushed to the right side of her face, hiding the top of her glasses… which hid the freckles that Morgan liked so much. Oh my _God, she’s so cute._ “H-Hey, Soph. What’re you doing—“, she gestures around with her hand, trying so hard to not seem flustered. “—here? This is the art room… not the school journalism room or the library. It’s fourth period.”

Sophia wordlessly pulls out a poster board in her left hand. It was written in her handwriting and upside down. Morgan was fairly certain there was a bear pun written down somewhere on there.

Morgan attempts to read it with a turned head and a squint before giving up and saying, “It’s upside down.”

“Oh,” Sophia lets out an embarrassed laugh and flips it right side up. “S-Sorry.”

Morgan quickly reads the card to herself and her smile grows even bigger when it occurs to her what’s going on. The card said, ‘I’d be _beary_ happy if my best friend in the whole wide world went to the prom with me. Will you?’ There was a smiley face at the end, too… and a tiny drawn out heart. 

“Will you go to prom with me, Mo?” Sophia asks, with a nervous smile. “Please?”

The elder teenager doesn’t realize she’s blushing before nodding and squeaking out, “Y-Yeah, I will.” Morgan steps closer to her and gives her a big hug, feeling the gift bag just barely graze her back when Sophia’s arms wrapped around Morgan’s waist. 

When the best friends step away from each other, Sophia hands Morgan the gift bag. A clear-wrapped bouquet of wildflowers was peeking out of the white bag. She noticed her favorite flowers, the sunflower and white daisy, were in the batch. 

“What was with the bear pun?” Morgan asks.

“Look in the bag, doofus,” Sophia teases. “It’s not that random.”

Morgan looks down in the bag and sees a teddy bear sat in the bag. The bear had a rose in his hands. Propped between the bear’s attached arms and in front of his stomach is a ticket to the ‘Once Upon an Enchanted Night - Hudson Valley High School’s Senior Prom’. 

“I wanted to get you a Build-A-Bear with a recorded message of me asking you… you know, to prom and everything. But my Dad requested I go with the cheaper option and the mall had a sale on leftover Valentines Day teddy bears… plus Sadie’s attention span is that of a fruit fly and I picked out the first one I saw on sale so she could stop bugging me and Dad could take her to Claire’s,” Sophia explains. “I think he’s cute, though… I hope you do too.”

“He’s adorable!” Morgan exclaims as she pulls the bear out of the bag and hugs him.

The art teacher steps next to Morgan and Sophia before saying, “Did no one see the sign on my door?” She points between the two teenage girls. “You two friends are so cute but there are simply no promposals allowed in here. I obviously have to let it slide because it’s already been done, but Miss Eleanor Sophia Danes please get back to your class before Mendoza or your Dad gives me an earful on the phone!” 

“Yes ma’am,” Sophia laughs quietly. “As long as you don’t call me Eleanor again… it’s way too old fashioned and I go by Sophia and Sophie.”

“No promises,” the teacher said. She shoos Sophia with a wave of her hand. “Go on... the yearbook committee awaits their editor, sweetheart.”

Morgan walks with Sophia over to the door. 

“My dad actually texted me a bit ago. You still on for Saturday movie night with my family tomorrow?”

“Always,” Sophia says. “What’s the movie this week?”

“I’ll text you when I find out,” Morgan informs. “I’m betting on Ferris Bueller or the 90s Parent Trap if we go live action… since I think it’s Mama’s pick this time. If it’s hers and it’s animated… probably the one Toy Story about Andy going to college, Cinderella, or Beauty and The Beast. I wouldn’t mind the latter.”

“She’s a sucker for the classics,” Sophia beams. “Don’t blame her though, me too. Cinderella’s my favorite.”

“Goodbye, Eleanor!” The art teacher yells from across the room. 

Sophia cringes before walking out of the room and down the hall. Morgan shuts the door before walking back over to her canvas.

———

As soon as Morgan puts her flowers in a vase, her parents unlock and open the door. 

“Our girl got flowers? From who?” Pepper is the first to inquire. 

“I’m going to the prom,” Morgan says when she turns around… there’s a genuine beam across her face. “I mean, I was asked to go.” She sets the vase down on the kitchen island.

“That’s—“

Tony interrupts as Morgan walks around the island and closer to her parents, “By who?”

“Sophie found me during my art period and she just… asked me!” Morgan exclaims, stopping in her tracks and bouncing on the tips of her toes. “Like, completely out of the blue. She gave me a teddy bear too.” She points to the teddy bear that laid on the couch next to her opened up and finished homework for the night.

“Aw, look at that!” Tony enthuses. “He’s cute.”

Pepper cracks a smile, “You two going as friends? Or a date?”

Morgan frowns and sighs, “Uh, just as friends...” She shrugs. “That’s okay… it’s _fine._ She doesn’t like me.”

“You don’t know that, Goona,” Tony says. “Maybe she was scared, after all you’ve been pining for your best friend since you even figured out you liked girls... Maybe she doesn’t know and was scared of your reaction… you know, like how you are handling this situation?”

“I hate how supportive you are of my schoolgirl crush, Dad,” Morgan whines as her dad hugs her from behind and kisses her forehead. “There’s no way she likes me back. _No way.”_

“You won’t know how she feels until you ask her,” Tony hums as he steps away. “Telling someone how you feel is only as scary as you make it.”

The teenager grumbles.

“What does my lovesick young adult want for dinner, huh?” Pepper teases.


	2. Enchanted Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night is sparkling, don’t you let it go. I’m wonderstruck, blushing all the way home.

**A few months later:**

There’s a knock on Morgan’s door before Pepper walks in. Morgan’s dressed in a floral yellow ballgown and her hair was pulled into a Princess Belle-esque style… her favorite Disney princess. Stud earrings in her ears, a gold rose necklace around her neck. She was staring at a desk filled to the brim with makeup she had received as gifts from extended family over the years with wide, confused eyes.

“You need any help in here?” 

“I don’t know how to do makeup. I mean I do, but not this type,” Morgan whines. “Help please.”

“I gotcha,” Pepper says before pulling up an ottoman to her daughter’s desk. She picks up the clean towel on Morgan’s bed and wraps it loosely around her neck and bodice to keep the dress clean before sitting down. “Got a reference or do you want me to wing it?”

Morgan nods toward her phone. “Recent favorited photo.”

“Mhm,” Pepper hums as she picks up her daughter’s phone and finds said photo. 

The first eye is almost done when Pepper speaks up, “How are you feeling? Excited?”

“Nervous,” Morgan mumbles as Pepper packs on one of the pigments—she couldn’t remember which one. 

“Why? Prom’s just a lot of teenagers horribly dancing and eating a whole bunch of unhealthy snack foods,” Pepper says as she taps the excess pigment into the waste. “Oh, and trying to avoid the spiked fruit punch.” 

“Sophia, Mama,” Morgan all but yelps. 

“You pulled out her real name this time, that’s serious,” Pepper teases. She moves to the next swatch. “What about Sophie, honey?”

“It is,” Morgan sighs before closing her eyes so Pepper can finish the second eye. “I like her. A lot, Mama. She’s really nice and funny… and really, really, smart. Sophia’s cute… she’s so pretty. Every time someone talks about her or I get to see her my brain just… freezes. She’s all I can think about. I want to see her smile and hear her laugh that sounds like music to my ears.  _ I _ want to be the one that makes her smile and laugh. But it’s just… so hard. I know she doesn’t like me.”

“How do you know if neither of you has said anything?” Pepper inquires as she finishes the outer corner. 

Morgan opens her eyes and blinks at her Mom. “I… don’t.”

“You’ve liked Sophie since you were fourteen and with the glances she shoots you during movie night and dinners, along with the very adorable way she asked you to prom as ‘friends’, I think she likes you too. You are both  _ eighteen _ now. My bet is that she might be scared that you don’t like her back either,” Pepper attempts to assure. 

“I’m  _ not _ telling her tonight,” the teenager states.

“Okay… that’s fine,” Pepper nods. “But why? Tonight seems like a perfect time.”

“I don’t want to ruin it!” Morgan yelps. “Watch me tell her I like her in the middle of a slow song but then she prefers me as a friend and then it’s awkward the whole rest of the night until she brings me home! I don’t want that… it would mess everything up.” 

“Lips,” Pepper says, ignoring Morgan’s comment as she notices the subtle sound of a car driving on their driveway. She ignores that part too. “Which one? All of these work.” She lays out three different shades of lipstick and two lipglosses. 

“You think Dad will be okay with me wearing lipstick to a school function?” Morgan snickers.

“No,” Pepper holds in a chortle. 

Morgan points to the second shade of gloss.

After Pepper finished helping Morgan with her makeup, it was almost time to go downstairs and wait for Sophia to show up at their door. Pepper unwraps the towel off of the bodice and lays it back on the bed.

“I know I’m just your Mom and it won’t mean anything to you, but you look so beautiful, Morgan,” Pepper compliments as Morgan looks at herself in the mirror. 

Morgan rolls her eyes before cracking a smile. “Thank you.”

Pepper stands up and walks over to her daughter’s closet. 

Morgan grumbles, “I forgot about the heels.”

“I didn’t like them at first, either,” Pepper says, picking up the box that contained Morgan’s black sparkly block heels. “Mostly because I’m on the taller side anyway. My mom always told me that beauty is pain.”

“It is,” Morgan whines.

“You can always just take them off when they get too irritating,” Pepper suggests. “That’s what I did at my prom all those years ago. Although I just went with a group of my friends because my ex broke up with me two weeks before senior prom night. Although, I wore stilettos and you are wearing a two in a half inch block heel.”

“Aw, Mama,” the youngest Stark frowns. 

“It’s okay,” Pepper shrugs. “If it wasn’t for the heartbreakers, I wouldn’t have found my way to my husband… and therefore, you would not be here.”

“Princess Morgan, your  _ date  _ to prom has arrived!” Tony calls from downstairs.

“Speaking of my husband and your Dad…”

“He did not just say that!” Morgan yelps.

“If you would’ve said that any louder she would’ve found out you like her whether or not you wanted her to know yet,” Pepper snickers, stepping toward the door. 

Morgan stays still on her vanity’s seat, nervousness keeping her from getting up.

“Maguna, you okay?” 

“I’m scared,” she mumbles.

“Why?”

“Dad called it a date,” Morgan says, fidgeting with her hands in her lap. “It’s  _ not _ a date. I want it to be one… but it’s not... because I’m a chicken.”

Pepper raises a brow before walking back over to Morgan and extending her free arm. “Up,” she says. “Just because it’s  _ not a date _ doesn’t mean you can’t have fun. Sophia’s waiting downstairs for you with your father, you better get down there quick before he embarrasses you any further.”

Morgan’s eyes widened before quickly picking up her phone and black clutch purse, getting up, hiking up the skirt of her gown just enough to aid in her walking down the stairs, and descending down the wooden stairwell. Pepper following close behind with the shoes in tow. 

The first thing she says when she gets to the base of the stairs is, “Did you say anything to her—“

“No. Why on Earth would you assume such a thing?” Tony asks, sounding (and looking) almost offended.

“FRIDAY, is my Dad a liar?” Morgan asks, as she slips her phone into her purse with her spending money, debit card and other cards, and the lipgloss she was wearing tonight. She rests the purse’s chain strap around her shoulder. 

“FRI’s asleep for biweekly updates,” Tony haphazardly states before looking over at Sophia who was standing behind the kitchen island. The corsages were sitting there. Sophia had been fidgeting with her corsage box before Morgan swears she sees her Dad shoot Sophia a funny look or a wink or _something…_ because she sees Sophia hide a stifled embarrassed-like laugh with a closed fist. 

“If you say so,” Morgan sighs. “But if I do find out that you did, I’ll never be nice to you again.”

“Ouch,” Tony pouts.

Morgan steps onto the first floor then and lets her barely held skirt drop back down. 

Tony looks at his daughter then and takes in a sharp breath when he feels tears brim his eyes all at once. He opens his arms up for her and she steps into the hug. He sputters out, “You look wonderful, Goona. Can’t believe my beautiful little girl is old enough to go to her senior prom.” 

“I’m  _ eighteen, _ Dad,” Morgan whines in his embrace. “I’m not exactly a baby anymore.” She takes a beat before recalling his compliment. “Thank you for the compliment.”

Tony lets out what sounds like a fake sob in response to Morgan’s complaint. 

“On the contrary, you will always be your Daddy’s baby girl,” Pepper says as she walks off the base of the stairs and sets the box on the coffee table in the living room space. “Mine, too.”

She wriggles out of her Dad’s hold before speaking up, “Prom starts at seven and it’s almost 6:15… they have to go through tickets and doors open at 45. I’d kinda not like to be in line for awhile… Can we go soon?”

“Pictures first please… at the stairs when you’re ready for them,” Pepper requests. “Also, Maguna. Shoes.”

“Coming,” Morgan says before finding her way over to where Pepper stood with the shoes in hand. 

Pepper hands them to Morgan and Morgan quickly puts each on before standing up… adding about three inches to her usual short five-foot-two-inches self. She now just barely reached Sophia’s height. 

Morgan stumbles so-very-slightly during her first stride, but makes it over to where Sophia still stood.. behind the kitchen island. She’s just about to say something when—

“Hi. Y-You… um, look really beautiful, Mo,” Sophia says.

Morgan stares at her, blindsided… she could only imagine the look on her face.  _ Sophie thinks I’m beautiful. She said I’m beautiful! She did! But look at her. The most beautiful person I’ve ever met… inside and out. Her blonde hair was pulled into a knotted bun… her bangs were all flowy and nice. She wasn’t wearing her glasses tonight and you could just barely see her freckles through her light makeup. Her dress… a light sky blue satin ball gown… It was sleeveless and had a deep v-neck with a small and sheer modesty panel. Look at her! Oh my God.  _ She stammers, “H-Hey. Thank you. you. You’re… you’re really pretty too, Soph. Beautiful.”

They converse as they exchange corsages and put them on each other’s wrists before walking over to the stairwell as requested. 

It feels like an eternity before Pepper turns off both her phone screen and camera and says, “Alright, go on. Have fun.”

“Bring her back by eleven, please,” Tony requests, looking at Sophia.

“Yes, Mr. Stark—“

“That early?” Morgan inquires. “Can’t you push my curfew to like 11:30 or midnight? Please?” 

“Why? Were you planning on going to the After Prom or something?” he asks and doesn’t get an answer. “Eleven PM. Sharp, not a minute later.”

“Yes sir,” Morgan pouts and he can’t be certain if it’s fake or not.

They leave a moment later, leaving the married couple alone.

Once Tony hears Sophia’s car drive out of their driveway, he speaks up, “Did you see that?! Morgan’s in love, Pep. Like actually in love… not just a little crush anymore. Our eighteen year old is  _ in love!” _

“I think we both knew that already, honey,” Pepper looks at him with a fond smile. “She had to grow up a little more someday.”

“I just didn’t think it would be so soon!”

———

It’s almost 9:30 PM when Sophia comes back to their table with two refills of pink lemonade and a plate of chocolate covered pretzels, two cupcakes, and two pigs-in-a-blanket in tow. “I got lemonade refills and I also got snacks too… I didn’t see the cupcakes earlier,” Sophia says with a small laugh as she sets the items down. “I got enough for both of us in case you want some and don’t want to get up.”

“Thank you,” Morgan smiles at Sophia before picking up a pretzel and taking a bite. 

The current upbeat song fades out when both girls finish their snack, and a slow love song comes on. It was an old one, but they both liked it. 

The next thing Morgan knows, Sophia’s standing up and gently pulling on her hand. “You want to dance with me, Miss Morgan Hope Potts-Stark?”

Morgan’s eyes widened and her vision darted from her happy best friend to her tugged on right arm. She looks back to her. “M-Me?”

“Why would I be holding your hand right now and referring to you by name if I wasn’t asking  _ you _ to dance with me?” Sophia asks with a tilted head.

“Oh. Y-Yeah, right.” She can barely nod before Sophia pulls her up to a standing position, through their school gym transformed into an enchanted fairytale wonderland to the dance floor. You couldn’t even tell that this was a basketball court. 

Morgan’s left arm is over Sophia’s shoulder and her right is holding Sophia’s left hand. Sophia’s right arm was around Morgan’s waist. 

Morgan’s looking everywhere but at Sophia for the first verse… there were crafted Tangled-like lanterns floating at the ceiling and one of the tables had a ‘glass’ slipper as the centerpiece… she could see couples and friends from all different backgrounds posing and making memories at the Cinderella carriage storybook photo booth. She felt so small. 

She looks back right in front of her… looking up at Sophia, who had the most sweet content smile. Then the first chorus comes… and she finds herself  _ talking. _

“I, uh, I haven’t slow danced with a-anyone before,” Morgan says just loud enough for Sophia to hear as the two slowly dance. “Well, aside from, uh, from with my Dad at th-those S.I. father daughter dances. I used to step on his toes a lot. Sorry if I’m… I’m not any good.”

“I haven’t either,” Sophia frowns before her pleasant smile comes back. “I miss those things.”

“The last one I went to was when I was sixteen,” Morgan recalls. “I don’t know why we stopped.”

“I was twelve, I think,” Sophia says, there’s pain in her eyes. “At least with my father. ...when Mr. Danes took me in after I had my gay awakening at the youth group lock-in at thirteen that my cousin’s family forced me to go to and… then I went to two more with my English teacher who took pity on me after my parents, you know... So I was fifteen. Mr. Danes asked to adopt me at that last one.”

It’s quiet for a couple seconds until Sophia furrows her brow in the dance. 

“Soph, you alright?”

“Can I ask you something… kinda important?” Sophia asks. “It’s got nothing to do with what we were just talking about. Well, kind of? I actually don’t know.”

Morgan silently nods.

Morgan’s breath hitches for a moment and she feels her heart rate pick up… her hands start to feel clammy and she attempts to readjust her right hand in Sophia’s. 

Sophia notices the tension before letting go of Morgan’s hand and wrapping her other arm around Morgan’s waist… pulling her closer. Morgan’s eyes widened in confusion as her lifted her right arm wraps around the back of Sophia’s neck. There’s barely any space between the girls now.  _ My hands are sweaty. I can only imagine what my heart rate is. What is she going to say? What if—no. I’m not that lucky. Stop looking at her lips, she's not going to kiss you. _

“A little birdie eluded to the idea that his daughter has a big giant crush on me and is too afraid to confess.”

She stares at Sophia with wide eyes. 

“T-That true, Mo?”

Morgan forces a swallow before stammering, “I-If I tell you… do you, do ya… um, promise not to like run away o-or somethin’?”

“Promise,” Sophia says with that smile. The same one that makes Morgan’s heart putty in Sophia’s hands. The butterflies in Morgan’s stomach were doing backflips and somersaults. 

“I  _ like _ you, Sophia Danes… ain’t that the worst thing you ever heard?” Morgan admits with a question quietly. “A lot. You’re so pretty a-and you’re really nice and incredibly smart… I just, you—“

_ And then she leans in and kisses me. Sophia kissed me!  _

“It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever heard… because I like you a lot too, Morgan Stark,” she murmurs when she pulls away by just a little.

_ She likes me. She really, really likes me. _

“Will you… you, um, be my girlfriend and go on a date with me?” Morgan asks, there’s tears that attempt to fall. “S-See how it goes?”

Sophia nods. “Y-Yeah.”

“Now that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Sophia teases before kissing her again. “All you had to do was ask me.”

“Oh, no. It  _ was _ bad. Terrifying, even.” Morgan shakes her head with a snicker. “I’m so yelling at my Dad for blabbing about my crush on you as soon as you take me home.”

Sophie laughs, “I can’t wait to see that.”

The new couple finishes slow dancing, when the song fades out. They step away, but Morgan’s shaky hand links with Sophia’s. Feedback from a microphone comes through the speakers from somewhere, distracting the girls and everyone else here tonight. Everyone’s eyes dart to the makeshift stage when the principal steps on.

“Soph,” Morgan whispers. 

“Hm?”

Morgan asks, “Can we ditch? This is prom queen and king stuff… People start to leave after this and you heard my Dad… eleven on the dot. I’d rather be home early than late.”

“Sure,” Sophia nods. 

They scurry out of the gym with their personal belongings in hand, including each other with a loose handhold. 

They stop in the main commons, where couples and friends are interspersed amongst the walls—some cuddling, making out, or just chatting, and sit down on one of the benches to put back on their shoes. 

Just when Morgan buckled her second shoe, Sophia says, “I think they just called your name.”

“Where?”

“In the gym,” Sophia says. 

“Why?”

“Prom queen, maybe? Isn’t that what you said they were announcing?” Sophia inquires.

“Are they going to make me dance?” Morgan cringes. 

“Pull the ‘my curfew is at ten’ bit. It’s 9:38 and by that logic you’re already late,” Sophia points out, pointing to the digital clock that now said ‘21:39’ in digital code disguised as red lettering. “You know the principal doesn’t wanna piss off your dad and get on his bad side.”’

“Blame my father for moving my mom into a cabin almost forty minutes from town in the middle of freakin’  _ nowhere _ and then randomly deciding to have a baby girl shortly thereafter on a whim… and then the closest high school that I’m zoned for fourteen years later is in said town forty minutes away,” Morgan rolls her eyes before getting up and walking back down the hall to the gym.

“Bitter, are we?” Sophia calls after her.

“Yep!” Morgan yells back. 

Morgan comes back with a tiara on her head and a sash on her dress who knows how many minutes later. “Don’t know how on Earth I was given the honor because everyone hates me here to some degree and as far as I know I wasn’t on prom court, but you’re apparently dating a queen.” 

“They scrapped prom court this year,” Sophia recalls. 

“How did you know that?”

“I pay attention to the afternoon announcements,” Sophia deadpans. “Oh, also about the statement you just made… who is ‘everyone’ you speak of? ‘Cause  _ I _ like you.”

Her cheeks flush a rose shade but she doesn’t respond.

They walk out together then.

“Is the required slow dance the reason it took so long?” Sophia asks when she sits in the driver’s seat of her car.

“Uh-huh… along with photos for the online yearbook and I had to make a speech up on the spot,” Morgan says with a shrug as she buckles her seatbelt in the front passenger’s seat. She glances at the clock on the dashboard and grumbles.  _ It’s 10:15 PM! It’s a 40 minute drive without traffic! _ “We’ll just barely make it home.” 

“I’m sure if you get home past curfew, your parents will let you off the hook if you explain all the figurative red and yellow lights that slowed our ETA that was originally set around 10,” Sophia attempts to assure as she pulls up to the exit of the high school parking lot. She purses her lips at the sight of heavy traffic she’s about to turn into. “Possibly literal yellow and red traffic lights.”

They’re about twenty minutes into the drive when there’s a sudden standstill on the bypass. Cars are bumper to bumper and both girls can see police sirens further up the drag of the back road… the usual way to get to and from school quicker. 

“Looks like we’re going to be here for a while,” Sophia grumbles before turning up the volume of the music and pushing her right foot against the brake pedal. Enchanted by Taylor Swift was playing… not even done with the first verse.  _ How fitting. _

Morgan checks her phone, thinking it’s a good idea to tell her parents that they’ll be late. She grimaced at the ‘NO SIGNAL’ in the corner of the screen. “I was going to text my Mom, but no signal.” 

“Dang,” Sophie says quietly. 

Morgan feels Sophie’s right hand link with her left when the first ‘this night is sparkling, don’t you let it go’ sings out. She shoots her girlfriend a fond smile, even if Sophie doesn’t see… her eyes laser-focused on the road and left hand gripping the steering wheel. 

“Remember when we first met?” Sophia breaks the mutual silence about five minutes later after she’s given the okay to move up the bypass just a tad.  _ 10:45. _ “When it was our first day of first grade and you were hiding under the big jungle gym during recess because you were crying and missed your Mom and Dad... how I got you to laugh and calm down until your Dad picked you up from school and gave you the biggest hug.”

“You have the weirdest memory,” Morgan jokes. “But, yes… I do. It’s the first clear memory I really have. You told me you weren’t ever going to leave my side. You never have.”

“I still didn’t know how to say my R’s yet,” Sophia lets out a soft smile. “I called you Mo until you told me your parents called you Maguna.”

“I thought Eleanor was too fancy and old fashioned and called you Sophie,” Morgan recalls. 

“You’re the reason I go by my middle name now,” she teases. 

It’s quiet for a couple more minutes.  _ 10:58 PM. _

“Remember when Harvard and MIT dropped admissions decisions on the same day and I waited for you to come over so we could figure out if we got into our dream schools together?” Morgan asks, reminiscing. “We had both been deferred for early action.”

“And how even after we both got into our dream schools after being deferred, we still made pro/con lists about each school we both got accepted into and rated them all?” Sophie adds on. “You purposely saying bad things about Yale and Duke in order to keep my mind set on Harvard… even going as far as to say that us being more than an hour away from each other was going to ruin our friendship.”

“When you made fun of Georgia Institute of Technology’s mascot because you couldn’t think of any other bad things about Tech aside from being like 18 hours away,” Morgan notes with a snicker. 

“His name is Buzz! He’s a yellow jacket! Can you be any less creative?!” she whines. “Also, nobody in their right mind calls Georgia Tech  _ that  _ unless they're trying to be pretentious. And despite your status, you are far from pretentious. It’s just Georgia Tech. I think you’d know that, you’re the one who applied.” 

“I’m all fairness, MIT’s is just a beaver named Tim,” Morgan shrugs. “They barely put much thought into it… it’s just MIT backwards.”

“True,” Sophia nods as she drives up just a bit further before stepping on the brake. The girls can see the exit to the main drag just up ahead. 

_ Eleven. _

“And look at us now,” Sophia continues. “Went from childhood best friends, to pining idiots, to girlfriends.” 

“Yeah… how fast time changes.” Morgan fondly says as she carefully takes off the cheap tiara and sets it atop Sophia's head with a tiny giggle. “I had fun tonight, your majesty.” 

“Me too,” Sophia says before pulling into the exit lane. “Why did you adorn me with your prom queen tiara?”

“You look better in it than I did,” Morgan says with a beam. 

“Shut up, Stark.”


	3. After Prom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls are out past curfew and Morgan’s mad at her father for blabbing about her crush to Sophia. What could go wrong?

“It’s 11:23,” Tony says to the girls as he opens the door to them. “We were worried sick!”

“Are you alright, honey?” Pepper asks as soon as she comes downstairs. 

“Mom, Dad, we’re fine. I promise,” Morgan says as she steps inside with Sophie. She quickly slips off her heels and puts them aside. When they stand side by side, Morgan grabs a hold on Sophia’s left hand and gives it a comforting squeeze. 

“We were originally going to leave around 9:30 but then Morgan got kinda hung up with something that took a bit… then there was a traffic jam on the backroad by the time we could actually leave due to a wreck on the bypass. There was no signal for a while otherwise we would’ve called or texted,” Sophia explains. “I’m really sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Stark. It won’t happen again.”

Morgan holds up her phone with her free hand and shows the new influx of unread text messages, traffic updates, missed calls and voicemails from both her Mom and Dad, amongst other things. She drops her purse back in her clutch. 

“It’s okay,” Tony nods. “I’m just glad you two are alright. If it becomes a regular occurrence, though…”

“Yes sir,” the Stark daughter says in understanding. 

“Who’s the prom queen?” Pepper asks as she walks next to Tony and wraps her arm around him. “Soph’s wearing the crown but not the sash.”

“Oh, me,” Morgan says. “I don’t know how because everyone at school but my  _ girlfriend _ dislikes me in some way. That’s the first reason we were late… about to leave and then the next thing I knew they were giving me a tiara and I had to dance with some football quarterback. Hated  _ every  _ second of it.”

“I’m sorry—wait. Girlfriend?” Tony is the first to ask, shooting his wife a look of intrigue. 

“Girlfriend?” Pepper repeats.

“Y-Yeah… Mama, Dad. This is my girlfriend—“ Morgan points to Sophia with her free hand and lets out the most content and happy smile. “—Eleanor Sophia Danes. She’s really smart  _ and _ she’s going to Harvard to study journalism. Isn’t that nice?”

“Why are you introducing her to us as if we’ve never met like a few hundred  _ thousand  _ times?” Tony asks, glancing at Pepper.

“It’s fun that way,” Sophia says with a smile.

“So do you two approve or…?”

Pepper simply nods before saying, “You two are simply the cutest. I approve.”

“Aw, I’m very happy for you both,” Tony congratulates before developing a faux-stern tone. “Yes, I approve. But you both better treat each other right or I will come after y’all. Understand me?”

“Yes sir,” Morgan lets out a small laugh.

“Yes, Mr. Stark,” Sophia says for the umpteenth time tonight—she lost count. 

Morgan clears her throat before speaking up, “Dad? May I speak to you in another room for a moment?”

Tony’s eyes widened at the request before Morgan lets go of her girlfriend’s hand and takes her father’s instead… proceeding to drag him toward the home office. 

“What did he do?” Pepper asks Sophia as she holds in a laugh. “Do you know?”

“Just wait,” Sophia says with a nod. 

Morgan and Tony make it to the office and Morgan makes a point to stand in front of the barely cracked door. 

“What did I do?” Tony asks, raising both of his hands in surrender. 

“You know what you did!”

“So, Belle and Cinderella had an enchanting evening at the ball tonight?” he inquires with a sly, knowing smile.

“Oh, totally! We people watched and then around 9:30 she asked me to slow dance with her. Which of course, sets off my barely dormant panic. Then she asks me if she can ask me something. I say yes, as one would!” She folds her arms and lets out a long winded huff. “...only after I made a complete fool of myself by asking if she was truly asking me to dance even though she was holding _my_ hand and referred to me by my full name in her quite eloquent request.”

“And?” Tony prods. 

“She then says, and I quote: ‘A little birdie eluded to the idea that his daughter has a big giant crush on me and is too afraid to confess’,” Morgan recalls. “And I can’t answer immediately because I’m processing what she’s telling me. My brain runs straight past the ‘she knows’ bit to the ‘his daughter’ slip up! And then I realized it was you! You’re the one who blabbed! She didn’t say their or her, she said  _ his. _ You lied to me and I-I… I trusted you! After staring at her dumbfounded for God knows how long she presses on with a two worded statement that went like: ‘that true?’.”

Tony blinks.

“After I admitted it to her she made me ask her out on a date,” Morgan vents. “Which is the most terrifying thing I’ve had to do in awhile!”

A muffled, “Stop pretending it was  _ that _ bad, Morgan,” comes from Sophia behind the cracked door. 

“I-It was!” she yelps. “I didn’t know if you were going to say yes!”

“Liar,” Pepper snickers. 

“That’s it, no more eavesdropping for you and Soph,” Morgan says as she pushes the door closed with her left palm before folding her arms again. She raises her voice: “This is between me and my backstabber of a father!”

He’s laughing.  _ My Dad is laughing. Laughing! _

“What’s so funny?”

“God, the apple really doesn’t fall too far from the tree, does it?” Tony asks, regaining his composure. 

That was Morgan’s turn to blink.

“What's with us and having zero ability to function around girls in blue dresses?” Tony asks. 

“Huh?”

“You don’t know that story?” he asks. 

“No,” Morgan shakes her head. 

“I thought your Uncle Rhodey and Happy told you everything about me and your Mom,” Tony deadpans. 

“I only know about the kiss on the rooftop and how much of a pining disaster you were for Mama for  _ years  _ on end,” Morgan says with a shrug. “Oh, and the wedding ceremony stuff… even though infant me was there. But nothing else.”

“Your Mom wore a royal blue dress on the night that, looking back, was the night I truly realized I loved her… we danced, it was awkward as hell though… nothing came of it, unfortunately,” he lets out an embarrassed stifle. “Until two years pass and then whatever convoluted story Rhodey told you about the roof probably fits in there.” He sees Morgan drop her folded arms by her side before a small smile shows up on her face. “Then ten plus years later, enter you. I’m sorry I overstepped with you and Sophia… I just want to see you happy, and that going on five years sad-lovesick-puppy shtick you had going on was making your mother and I both sad. I wouldn’t have told her if I wasn’t like... 99.9 percent positive I thought she liked you too… that was courtesy of your mom’s intuition, though, not mine. Love’s only as scary as you make it out to be, Morgan. If it takes you five years to tell your first ever crush that you like her, I never will get to see you get married to whoever it is you will… whether it’s Danes or anyone else and I’m not getting any younger. I had to do something to see you figure that out.”

“Oh,” Morgan mumbles, fighting back a thankful smile. 

The next thing Tony knows, his daughter has enveloped him in a tight embrace. “Thank you. I love you, Dad.”

“I-I love you too,” he says as he cradles his daughter’s head in the hug. “So much, kiddo. Never forget that, okay?”

“I won’t,” Morgan says before stepping away and opening the office door back up a moment later to see Sophia showing something on her phone to Pepper. 

Pepper looks up from Sophia’s phone and inquires with a humored smile, “Did you two make up?” 

“Yep,” Tony says with a raised brow as he runs his right hand through his barely-gelled hair. 

“That’s nice,” she snickers. “Hon, you need to see their prom photo. It’s the cutest thing.”

Sophia steps away and over to Morgan while Tony crosses over to his wife to view the photo.

“That is quite adorable,” Tony enthuses. “Where’d you get the rose?”

“Prop,” Sophia says.

“Ah,” he hums. “So I’m assuming you two want to visit a Disney Park to be your senior trip, huh?” 

“World,” Sophia and Morgan say at the same time. 

“Florida? Really? You could go to any Disney park in the world and you choose Orlando?” Tony scoffs. “Paris, Tokyo, Anaheim! Even one of those cruises. But no.”

“We wanna go to Disney World, Dad,” Morgan repeats. 

“Though a cruise seems nice,” Sophia teases. “Like it actually does.”

“Okay… Even though I’m questioning your sanity, I’ll make a mental note you want to go to Orlando. Along with the cruise thing,” he nods before looking toward the stairway and back at the young adults. “Sophia, I’m a little uncomfortable with letting you drive home this late… you have a forty minute drive back, not counting traffic delays and you’ll get there after midnight regardless what type of standstill you get. I’m about to call Mr. Danes… you comfortable staying in the guest room tonight?”

“Um… sure,” Sophia agrees with a small nod. 

“I’ll get you some clothes for you to sleep in,” Morgan offers before leaning in to whisper. “You can come up with me to pick something out unless my dear old protective dad intervenes.”

A couple minutes pass when Sophia steps out of the bathroom with black leggings on and one of Morgan’s Dad’s old rock tee shirts, her dress hung up on a velvet hanger in her hand.

“You know my Dad’s probably going to throw an absolute fit if he sees you wearing that shirt,” Morgan says as she takes the hung dress from her girlfriend and walks back in her room to store it in her closet overnight. 

“Eh, he’ll get over it,” Sophia laughs.

“Go on downstairs, I’ll be down in a sec,” Morgan says as she beckons toward her bedroom door with her hand. “What movie are you thinkin’ of?”

“Chaos Walking,” Sophia says as she walks back out the door. “Or maybe that one cringey ballet movie that your Dad hates.”

“Exemplary choices,” Morgan smiles. 

———

Morgan opens her eyes to see the dimly lit living room… only illuminated by the soft glow of the title screen for Chaos Walking and a lamp to the left of Morgan. 

She relaxes again before she realizes Sophia’s arm is around the top of her waist. 

“Wha—Where are you going?” Tony whispers across the room. “Pep?”

Morgan shuts her eyes closed and finds comfort in her girlfriend’s snuggle as she attempts to not make her awake-presence known. 

“Bed,” she hushes. “You going to play the role of the ‘overbearing protective father’ until one or both of them awakes to go to their designated rooms?”

“Yep,” Tony says, quietly. “I’ll make coffee if I have to.”

“Uh-huh,” Pepper stifles a chortle. “I’m gonna go to sleep. I hope you join me soon. Love you.”

“Love you too,” Tony says quietly. 

It’s silent for what seems like an eternity until someone sniffles. Morgan can’t actually tell if it was actually her, Sophia, or Tony. 

She peeks open her right eye to see if she can figure out what’s happening.

Her Dad is standing by the kitchen island when his eyes glance over at Morgan and Sophia, and he furrows a brow before looking back over at his phone. 

It’s quiet again for a couple minutes after Morgan closes her right eye again. 

He clears his throat before quietly scolding, “Morgan Hope Potts-Stark and Eleanor Sophia Danes, I know you both are awake. I’m not stupid.”

Morgan’s eyes open then and she says, “In my defense I thought she was still asleep and didn’t want to wake her.”

“Same,” Sophia says quietly as Morgan sits up. She sits up just shortly after Morgan stands and wipes her eyes. 

“Was the full name thing  _ really _ necessary, Dad?” Morgan inquires, walking over to where he stood. 

“I suppose not, but I’m dramatic,” he says. 

“Well, I’m gonna go—“, Sophia says as she walks over to the staircase. She lets out a yawn. “—upstairs and try to get some sleep. Goodnight, to you both.”

“Night,” Morgan says as she watches Sophia’s retreat upstairs. She looks back at her Dad. “You don’t  _ have _ to be so protective over me, you know that… right? Soph and I already discussed boundaries in the traffic jam… well, it was more of a ‘are you still iffy on this’ and ‘you said you would not mind x, y, z’ since we often talked about boundaries in future imaginary relationships off the cuff as friends. But you know what I mean. I think you do, at least.”

“Believe me, I know. You can take care of yourself… even though that hurts my soul a little bit because that means you’re going to MIT soon and will be out of the house when you do,” he says, a hint of sadness in his voice. “I’m glad you talked with her about it, too. But I personally don’t think I could sleep at night if I wasn’t at least a little overprotective. I don’t want you or her to get hurt.”

“Hm. Well I want you to sleep at night, so I don’t mind anymore,” Morgan hums as she hugs him from the side, the left side of her face against his right shoulder. 

There’s a silence that settles over the two. 

“Dad?”

“Hm?” he asks, glancing from the painting he was looking at toward his daughter. 

“Is it normal that as the days go by I’m getting immensely more terrified to go?” she questions. 

“To go where?”

“To college,” Morgan clarifies. “All my friends say it’s normal but I can’t tell if they’re saying it just to make me feel any better or if I’m just  _ weird.  _ Is it actually normal? Like, did you feel this way?”

“Oh, you’re not weird at all honey,” Tony attempts to assure as he rubs her back comfortingly. “I wish I could answer you in good conscience about how I felt, though. I was young and have managed to repress my last semester of high school through certain moments of my first year of college… so I don’t really remember. But knowing what I do know about myself back then, I probably was. Not that I told anyone, if I had. It’s not like I would’ve been able to change anything.” 

“What about Mom?”

“Oh, she was,” Tony states. “She got into nine good schools, three of which were of the Ivy League. And of course, went with UPenn. But before that she was worried about money and her family quite often. Got a hefty scholarship there and it sealed the college deal for her. Sometime later, she dropped her major and picked up business. Even after doing that, she’s told me that she was still scared for awhile. But she trusted her gut and kept at it. Graduated, got various accounting gigs until she wound up at S.I.”

Morgan gives a small, unconvinced smile before sighing, “I, just… ugh. What if I get to my senior year and have already signed up for graduation and decide engineering isn’t my thing? What happens then? What if I… what if I can’t do it?”

“Well first off, you  _ can _ do it,” Tony says. “Second, unlike my life… your mom and I didn’t make a plan for your life and pressured you to stick to it. You don’t have to take over anything if you don’t want to, you don’t even have to go to MIT if it comes down to it. Despite the fact that it would make me a little sad if you didn’t go. But third, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it if we ever have to get there. Just like we told you at fourteen when you came out to us… your mom and I, we’ll support you through anything you do as long as it doesn’t harm you or others. If you get to your senior year and decide you want to transfer schools or change your major to something completely different, we’ll get you there. The only way we wouldn’t is if your only reason behind wanting to change up your plans is because the insecure misogynistic boy in your molecular physics lecture got in your head by saying you couldn’t.” 

“Thank you, Dad,” Morgan mumbles before yawning again. She looks over at the painting next to the fireplace that she had been finished and framed painting on the one day in March. It had taken home second place compared to an abstract piece a junior had made in thirty minutes. 

In the left corner of the canvas, there was a little old cottage… a silhouette of two people in love standing on the porch. A sunny knoll was painted across a good portion of the bottom half of the canvas… a blue sky taking the top half. A dogwood tree on the right side of the canvas, with a strong extended branch that has a secured wooden swing. The trunk of the tree had barely legible initials carved inside an artistic heart. ‘A plus V’. Near the swing, a young girl in messy clothes was sitting on a tiny chair tucked into the white circular table that had a small glass tea set... three other chairs were around the table, seating a teddy bear, a doll, and an empty space. In the far right hand corner, Morgan’s signature was just barely cut off with the black frame.

“You’re a wonderful artist, you know,” Tony compliments, before kissing the top of her forehead. “You could always do that if you absolutely hated engineering.”

Morgan snickers, “Thank you. I’m glad you like it so much.” She yawns again as she steps away. “I think I’m gonna head to bed. Got finals next Thursday and probably need to start studying soon before it’s too late.”

“Good,” Tony says as he turns around to face her. “Love you, kiddo. Couldn’t be more proud of you.”

“I love you too,” Morgan says quietly before walking upstairs, leaving Tony downstairs with nothing but his grieving-like thoughts about his all-grown-up-little-girl that used to ask to be tucked in every single night. When did that ever stop? God, he couldn’t remember… and that hurt him a little bit. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please leave kudos, a comment, or share if you liked reading this. It would mean so much to me! <3
> 
> Side note: despite my sudden interest in Gilmore Girls, Sophia’s adopted father has nothing to with Luke Danes, haha. 
> 
> Follow my Twitter (evermorestarks) and tumblr (akasharpiegirl) for fic updates and regular madness.


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